Methodological note

Data presented in this article are reported by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and converted to monthly and hourly wages in euro by Eurofound. Whenever possible, conversions are based on Eurostat methodology (see Minimum wages (earn_minw))

Eurofound’s dataset includes harmonised figures on monthly wages in euros applicable to full-time working employees at the full adult rate, as well as conversions to hourly minimum wages.

The conversion of local currencies into euro is carried out by applying the monthly exchange rate of the end of the previous month, as provided by the European Central Bank (see dataset EXR.M.*.EUR.SP00.E)

For countries where the national minimum wage is not fixed at a monthly rate, its hourly or weekly rate is converted into a monthly rate according to conversion factors supplied by Eurostat (see 15.1. Comparability – geographical)

When the minimum wage is paid for more than 12 months per year, data have been adjusted to take these payments into account (e.g. for the countries where it is paid for 14 months a year, the minimum wage is calculated as follows: (monthly rate x 14)/12)).

Countries which stipulate hourly minimum wage rates by law or where the government publishes official hourly figures – mainly in addition to monthly rates – are: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. For all other countries, conversion into hourly wages is based on the average number of usual weekly hours of work in the main job, by sex, professional status, full-time/part-time and economic activity, as provided by Eurostat in the dataset lfsa_ewhun2. For 2018 and 2019, figures from 2017 are applied.